The Burned Ones
by Xxreverie
Summary: What if Sakura discovered the past love of her life dying in a puddle of blood? With war still raging on, would she save him? After years apart, does she still know him? Does she still love him? (Spoilers from Chapter 662)


**_~(Sasuke)~_**

_Fire_

Dark fluttering eye lashes desperately fought against the earth's tugging gravity. It was a consuming heaviness that relentlessly threatened to pull him deeper into the darkness that already flowed in his Uchiha blood. His death stained chest struggled to sluggishly rise, and then swiftly collapsed in a short hopeless breath. The harsh rhythmic wheezing of his lungs was no louder than a whisper. However, it amplified and echoed against the towering stone walls of the empty canyon.

_fire._

Scrunched eyes still closed, his last thoughts were swallowed by his current torture. Every intake of air was an imminent pain that would eat through his heart and sizzle through his arms and legs. A bubbling warmth gradually spread over his stomach and blanketed the ground where he lay. He had now painted the landscape red from crawling after the man who is the target of is irrepressible rage. He had only made it 5 feet, and then collapsed on his back with his somber face to the sky.

The pain was great, yes, but his anger was greater. The fire in his chest fueled the dark vengeful desire to slaughter Madara and watch him suffer a slow and humiliating death. He wanted to see him scream out in agony, scream out for mercy. He wanted to kill him from the inside out, and then watch his body crumble to ashes.

"Arghh!" he screamed through clench teeth as he pounded his fist in the dirt.

Suddenly, a violent cough made its way to his lips and blood rapidly poured from the corners of his mouth. Catching his breath, slowly, bit by bit, a slight smile began to form on his crimson lips.

_Well, it's what I deserve after all…. isn't it Itachi? _

He then imagined his loving brother's face, his kind forgiving smile— his dead lifeless eyes. Their physical similarity was the reason he could no longer look into a mirror or even the reflection of a river. Because if he did, the only image he would see, is the face of his dead older brother—the dead older brother whom he personally killed.

Another swift breath escaped his cramping lungs.

When he found out about the sacrifice and agony his brother had suffered, for him and the leaf, Sasuke no longer thought of his life as his own. It belonged to his older brother. His life was now dedicated to live the life he wished Itachi could have had….and now he was dying. After everything he had been through…he now lay dying alone in an empty desolate canyon.

Lifting his heavy hand up to his sweat beaded face, two fingers gently rested on the center of his forehead. A cold breeze danced along his cheek and the silence of the air was a chilling comfort.

"Sasuke…" He recognized Itachi's strong voice, but knew it was all in his head.

"Hn" Sasuke closed his eyes and welcomed the illusion.

"You're giving up."

Song birds could be heard fluttering in the distance, but the pungent smell of imminent decay usurped their melodies.

Sasuke slowly opened his eyes then stared up at the shifting clouds in the ignorant sky. "I'm not giving up….. I'm dying."

Letting out a hum that vibrated from deep within, he finally allowed his thoughts to wander to the people he had pushed from his heart and swore to never remember. The people he knew he had hurt and felt no remorse for doing so….or so he thought.

His legs were numb from the loss of blood, and all mental self-restraint was crumbling with his life. He was dying, and in his last moments, he would allow himself to break out of his strict emotional chains. Too much of his life was wasted on hatred and anger—on revenge. If he had stayed in the village when he was younger, listened to Kakashi and trained with Naruto, maybe ….

But he betrayed them. He abandoned them and….

He stopped that thought before it manifested farther. What's done is done, and he can't change what has already happened.

The numbness was slowly progressing up his stomach and into his arms. There wasn't much time left.

"Looks like I'll be joining y'all soon….mom, dad, Itachi….If I'm lucky." He closed his eyes again as he felt their heaviness succumb to the will of gravity. A sweep of exhaustion rippled through his system as his organs were beginning to fail.

However, he felt almost…. at peace…..but, there was one last memory that troubled his tired soul. It caused his lips to form a scowl and his eyebrows to pull together. It was an expression of frustration and maybe…_annoyance_.

"Tch.." He scoffed.

_Love….what does an ignorant little girl know of love? _

Yet, however much he detested and pitied her confession, buried deep inside his blackened heart, a piece of him grew from her words that night. And unknowing to his conscious, he would always feel something for her. But, that something, he would never confess.

He felt the sudden urge to yawn. It was as if for the first time in his life, he welcomed the empty darkness that would pull him under in his deep slumber. He felt like this cold sensation that always seemed to rule over him, had now come to claim him for the last time. He would finally sleep well tonight.

And in his last few struggles for air a certain image manifested in his foggy mind. He didn't know why he had painted this picture; however, he did nothing to wipe his canvas clean.

**~(Memory)~**

The hot sun was shining especially bright. It was enough that he was forced to shield his squinted eyes with his forearm as he peered up into the thick branches of a village tree.

"Come on Sasuke-kun! Climb up here with us!" Sakura's high pitched voice carried in the wind.

His eyes had to focus and adjust as he approach the shaded ground underneath the old tree. And as he looked up, for the first time in his trying life, he had been unable to process a single thought.

All he did was stare.

He stared at the way her illuminated jade eyes were best friends with the vibrant green of the oak tree leaves. He stared at the way her long blossom hair perfectly framed her flushed bubble gum cheeks—t he way she playfully swung her legs with graceful pointed toes—the way the sun's rays danced in her hair. And then—

Like a comet falling into the earth, he fell into her smile.

Warmth from inside of his forever frozen chest began to melt his solid disposition. Time seemed to slow and against his better judgment, he began to memorize her image, for it was a masterpiece that needed to be remembered. He traced her brilliance and had decided that she was more magnificent than the sun, more incandescent than the moon, and a million times more wondrous than the stars.

A harsh gust of wind blew his concentration from his careless thoughts. He shook his head clear and swiftly turned to walk away. Ignoring the yells of protest behind his back, he had to distance himself from his teammates and quick.

He had to make sense of what had just transpired in his mind and body. It was a weakness that his conscious had never experienced._ She_…She was his weakness….and that had to be abolished.

Yet, she had given him a special gift he selfishly wanted to keep forever, and never wanted anyone else to see of its existence. If someone else ever realized what he had just discovered, his precious treasure could be stolen.

But, It was not his fate. It was never his to keep.

He only had one goal in life, and everything else was a barrier. He finally concluded that it was not a gift after all. It was an obstacle, an irritation….an_ annoyance_. And he would destroy the memory of its presence….forever.

**~(End)~**

And as his chest fell for the last and final time, the wondrous cherry blossom filled his lonely existence.

He had kept her with him after all…..after all that time.

* * *

**~(Sakura)~**

Collapsing, her knees splashed into the puddle of warm red life that continued to ooze out ofhis heart. Her hands trembled violently as she stared wide eyed in shock and horror at the worst nightmare she could have ever imagined. As if repelled by a same charged magnet, her fingers hovered over his blood soaked chest. Frantic, she called his name. At first it was a whisper, and then as reality began to sink in, a blood curdling scream of agony resonated through the hollow canyon.

"Sasuke!" Her throat croaked with a sob that shook her entire body.

She couldn't sense a pulse. She couldn't hear him breathe.

"Sasuke! Please…please, oh Kami!" She hesitated before cupping his face in her weak hands and brushed his pale cheeks with her thumbs. Tears cascaded around the mounds of her cheek bones and landed on his closed dark eyelashes.

"I….my….please…..wake up."

Gasping for air, she felt her stomach constrict with the sudden urge to throw up. Her once vibrant eyes continued to frantically search his body, looking for anymore wounds.

"Sasuke….don't you dare give up on me you bastard…don't you dare leave me again!"

She clenched her teeth in an effort to suppress a violent rage that was beginning to manifest in her chest. She was angry- angry he was now further from her then he had ever been before.

"I will not let you die! Do you hear me!?"

She clenched her fists and beat the ground above his bloodied black hair.

"I will not let you leave me again!"

And with a blast of momentous power which formed a depression that cradled them both in the ground, Sakura illuminated green with chakra that she didn't even know she still possessed. Her fatigued body fought against exhaustion and triumphed under the tremendous weight that was currently crushing her heart. She clenched her teeth and pulled in her last remaining power to concentrate it on the center of Sasuke's bloody chest.

Her chakra pulsed in rhythm with her weakening heart. Pouring out her soul, the burning was so intense that she couldn't help but cry out as her life flowed from her, into the only man she would ever love.

The skin on her trembling hands was beginning to blacken and peel as her chakra was burning her flesh with its raw form. Wincing she bit her bottom lip but kept pushing forward, determined to see him breathing again—determined to hear his voice.

"Sasuke! Come back to me!" she yelled as she squeezed her eyes shut. Tears no longer fell freely, for she knew she had the power to save him.

"Sasuke!"

This was it. She could feel his butchered arteries and muscles form together again. Tissue cells were being copied and regenerated at blinking speed. And finally the surface flesh that was ripped apart, banded together like he had never been stabbed.

With one last furious push of energy, she screamed at the top of her lungs as the fire in her veins rippled through her arms. Finally her pain would begin to dull into numbness, but unfortunately her worn heart could never be numb.

It was over. She did it.

Her halo of green immediately receded, weakly pulsing an inch off of her skin. She hazily fell back onto her heels as her arms collapsed to her sides. With her burnt palms open towards the peaceful sky, her chest brutally heaved in a useless effort to try and catch her breath.

And as the pull of darkness began to consume her dimming light, she weakly gazed down upon the face of her only love—her Sasuke.

"Come back to me." She softy whispered in the fleeting wind.

* * *

**~(Sasuke)~**

A harsh white light caused his eye brows to scrunch in protest to the blinding brightness that penetrated his closed eye lids.

He inhaled deep.

Then he exhaled.

Inhaled.

Exhaled.

With the rhythmic rising of his chest came the comforting sound of air entering and exiting his lungs.

Wait, he could breathe.

He could breathe without the feeling of a bolder on his chest. A confusion swept over him as he was able to feel sensation in his arms and legs. He could move his body, and he felt a new sense of energy pulse through his system he had never felt before.

He sluggishly opened his eyes. The same cyan sky he had cursed just moments ago was hovering above his head.

The harsh coldness of the gravel dirt he laid upon, still barely cushioned his body.

—His healed body.

Pulling his right hand over his chest, only warm soft flesh could be felt under his long calloused fingers. No evidence of a hole in his heart remained.

But…he was supposed to be dead.

Sasuke bowed his head to the left as he faintly recognized something from a distant memory.

And it was as if the wind never blew away.

**~Memory~**

A harsh gust of wind blew his concentration from his careless thoughts. He shook his head clear and swiftly turned to walk away. Ignoring the yells of protest behind his back, he had to distance himself from his teammates and quick.

"Wait, Sasuke-kun!"

He never looked back and continued to walk away from that cursed tree. He had to make sense of what had just transpired in his mind and body. He had never been so mesmerized by anything or anyone.

A deep scowl formed on his lips and he felt utterly disgusted with himself. Racing through the forest, he stopped at a large clearing. The air was slightly humid from a light morning drizzle, but the ground had dried after the sun had risen. The small forest animals had already returned to their daily routines that had been previously disrupted.

Everything felt so….peaceful. And then—

In a commanding gust of wind that scattered the song birds from their perch, drifted a fragile message that caused him to pause.

"Come back to me!"

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. She was definitely annoying alright.

And with a quick jolt of chakra to his legs, he sprinted farther away, deeper into the forest, to where he could no longer hear her pleading voice. But even then, it still echoed in his clouded mind.

From then on, he forever cursed that voice, for it would always seem to make him a more contented person. It made him want something he could never have—didn't deserve.

It made him lose focus—and that was unacceptable.

**~(END) ~**

That voice.

In the wind, it was….._her_ voice.

It was that same,_ annoying…._.

And then—

As he slowly turned his heavy head, grey orbs darkened into the blackness of infinite oblivion.

Paralyzed, he stared as her head limply fell into her chest.

He could barely feel her chakra presence…It was almost nonexistent and continued to drain.

"Sakura" He ignored his stiff muscles and soar limbs as he bolted up and grabbed his former teammate's arms to keep her from falling.

He gently and as quickly as possible laid her down into his arms. With his right hand supporting her head, his left hand tenderly brushed her pale bangs from her closed eyes.

"Sakura." His deep demanding voice vibrated in the stiff air.

He needed to keep her conscious. He needed her awake.

"Sakura." He commanded her attention again with more ferocity. A frantic panic was beginning to take hold on his solid controlled temperament. And the relief that had wash over his being as he could again breathe was deteriorating with every passing second.

She wasn't responding.

"Sakura, Wake up… listen to me!" He barked as he shook her unintentionally. With a deep scowl he glared at her tear stained cheeks. Anger was manifesting within, and his exhaustion did little to extinguish its flame.

A new fire was coming alive, and it would burn him worse than anything before.

Her chest sluggishly rose with a shallow breath. Slowly her eyes fluttered open, but he knew she wasn't entirely there. Her once glowing emerald eyes were cloudy grey and unfocused staring off at something in the distanced sky.

"Sas…Sasuke…kun?"

His dark assessing orbs narrowed as he observed that she couldn't see him.

A feeling he could not place, clawed its way to the surface. It was a pain close to fear. He felt almost the same as he had when he had learned the truth about….

"Hn.." was all he could produce, unable to control the tone and steadiness of his words.

However, what happened next, no amount of self-control he had mastered could have sufficed against the fading moon in his arms.

Frozen, he held her as her bleeding hand slowly reached up to gently cradle his cold cheek. The feeling of her touch caused his eyes to reflexively close and melt in her everlasting warmth. Unconsciously he pulled her closer, constricting his grip as if to never let her go…yet, she was still fading. No amount of physical security could save her waning soul. He was useless.

"You came…back….. to me" She weakly rasped, using short shallow breathes.

A dark feeling of worthlessness swallowed him in his shadow. Unable to continue a false facade, his facial features contorted expressing an agony that was ruthlessly eating away his tortured heart.

He couldn't handle it. He just couldn't handle seeing her so changed from the person he had known in his youth. She was so fragile, so pale and feeble that he couldn't believe it was his same childhood teammate in his arms. He would have asked to be stabbed in the heart a million times more if it meant that she would be saved. Even if saving her meant he would never see her again.

He couldn't trust his voice. He couldn't trust his heart.

All he could do was nod into her hand, hopefully giving her a hint of comfort with his presence.

Still staring lost into the sky, a warm smile spread over her lips. She could feel his hurt. She always knew how to read him. A noise similar to a chuckle escaped her throat, leaving Sasuke dazed.

"I…always knew….you had..a…beautiful…..soul" Finishing her words was a battle, but she was the victor who bewitched him triumphantly.

He didn't know how to respond. His body would betray him if he attempted even the smallest reply. He was witnessing her death—the death of Sakura. The only girl he ever…. No—this wasn't happening. He isn't alive; she isn't in his arms—dying. He's in Hell.

That's the only logical explanation.

He was unlucky and instead of reuniting with his family, he was living in an eternal hell. That's the only explanation for the shattering anguish ripping apart his very being. It was a punishment for all of the murders he had committed. He was being punished, and eagerly wished for death to come again.

As if trying to breathe without lungs, his body trembled as he ached for oxygen. Wide eyed he stared as a blooming smile began to take shape on her tired face.

And with a tenderness that he would always remember, she cursed him one last time.

"Take…care of…them…for me…."

Without even processing her final wish, he nodded. Anything for her—he would do anything for her.

And as if the universe was coming down to steal her away from his arms; the sun's rays painted and gave life to her pale locks. The color invading her lips and cheeks brightened her complexion equaling the brilliance of a blooming cherry blossom. The gauntness of her withering form, and the dark shadow like bruises covering her ghostly skin disappeared. She began to illuminate with a majestic aura encompassing them both.

She was leaving him.

He wasn't able to fathom his storm of emotions. The familiar sting behind his ribs was nothing like he had ever battled before. He couldn't even swallow the knot in his aching throat.

And then her eyes….

He blinked as if to challenge reality, because her stunning emerald green eyes…..finally fell into his.

All breath gone from his lungs, Sasuke wondered if he had ever seen anything so beautiful in his life.

And then he remembered—and the answer was yes…..

….it was _her_.

Illuminating white, she felt like a feather in his grasp but he refused to let go. His eyes widened as he knew this was the end—the end of them.

His mouth parted in an effort to say something—say anything….but he couldn't…

He couldn't find the words….She deserved a happy long life where she would grow old and die in a peaceful sleep. She deserved to be passionately loved and told every day just how impeccably beautiful she was. She deserved a loyal husband and many children who would bless her with happiness. She deserved to live—and he deserved to die.

Gritting his teeth, he wanted to scold her. He wanted to scream at her for doing something so foolish, so wasteful—so stupid.

But his anger melted away as her tiny fingers brushed along his dirty cheek as if to tell him that everything was going to be okay. But it wasn't—he was losing her.

He gently placed his hand over hers in an effort to communicate what he was physically unable to say. And she knew his pain. She knew his heart. She knew his soul.

Her warm aura grew brighter and brighter until Sasuke had to squint against its blinding light. He tightened his grip on her fragile torso and squeezed her hand in a desperate attempt to keep her with him forever. But, It didn't make a difference.

And with one last exhale, her light was gone.

In his arms, she was cold. Her hand lifelessly dangled, blood mixing with dirt.

* * *

He was numb.

Facial features indifferent as always, he lifted her head to view her face. But this time his vision was obscured with waves of color.

Something wet fell onto her closed long eyelashes and traveled down her own dry tear tracks.

Inhale.

Exhale.

He was breathing, but he knew he would never truly breathe again. He would always lack a piece of himself, for what Sakura didn't know was that _she_ was the one who gave him a soul.

Delicately, he laid her form on the ground. She looked as if she were just sleeping; reminding him of the day he would make his biggest mistake.

And as a final last goodbye, he gently cradled her peaceful face in his hands and ever so softly kissed her crimson lips with a message she would never receive…..

He had kissed her… just like he did on the bench, all those years ago.


End file.
